Knitting machine



Oct. 24, 1939.

K. R. LIEBERKNECHT 2,176,91 l

, KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1937 Fig. 3

Inventor HA1 iZaZa/w/ flaw Patented Oct. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNITTING MACHINE Application June 24, 1937, Serial No. 150,111 In Germany September 15, 1936 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in welt mechanism for flat knitting machines, and

more particularly to a welt wire support and release mechanism for controlling the operation of 5 the welt wires to engage with and tension the fold of welt fabric away from the needles.

In the knitting of welt fabric on full-fashioned hosiery machines of the general type which are provided with automatic mechanism for turning 10 the welt, it has been proposed to support the welt wires with the usual take-up tension straps attached thereto adjacent to and somewhat above the needle series, and then to release the welt wires associated with the several sections so 15 that they are permitted to fall against the fabric under the influence of their take-ups, to provide a continuous take-up action against the fabric during the subsequent turning of the welt and continued knitting of the leg portion of the stock- 20 ing.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved welt wire support and release mechanism of this general description which is well adapted to provide a 25 secure support for the welt wires and attached take-upstraps, and which will operate to release the welt wire in such a manner as to prevent any undue strain from being placed on the fabric through the operation of the take-up straps to 30 draw the welt wires against the fabric.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel and improved welt wire support and release mechanism of this general description which is constructed and arranged to be moved to bodily out of the way when the welt wire is released, to avoid possible interference of the support mechanism with other operating instrumentalities of the machine during the subsequent knitting of the stocking blank.

{ With these and other objects in view, as may hereinafter appear, the several features of the invention consist in the devices, combinations, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, which together with the advantages IE to be obtained thereby, will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view in left side elevation of a portion of a flat i0 full-fashioned knitting machine of ordinary description, only so much of the machine being shown as is believed necessary to illustrate the connection of the present invention therewith;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the i parts shown in a different position, subsequent to the release of the welt wires from their support; .Fig. 3 is a detaileview in front elevation of the pendant welt bar and the means for accurately registering the same with the needles, illustrated in Fig. 1. 5

The invention is herein disclosed as embodied in a multiple section flat full-fashioned knitting machine of ordinary description, the sinker head rail of the machine being indicated at II], the work table at l2 and the usual take-up roller shaft at I4 having supported thereon take-up rollers IS. The machine is provided with the usual spring beard needles l8 for each section rigidly mounted in a needle bar 2|] for movement with relation to a fixed press edge formed on the sinker bed plate 22 which is also slotted to receive the usual yarn measuring sinker elements 24. Knockover bits 26 are supported on a knockover bit support 28 to be controlled as a unit. The machine is also provided with the usual narrowing machine frame as indicated by the showing of one of the depending brackets 30 having slidably mounted therein the usual nar-. rowing point rods 32, and extension bracket 33 similarly supporting lace rods 34.

The machine illustratedin the drawing is provided with automatic mechanism for setting up and turning the welt, including a pendant 36 supported directly above the needle series and having mounted on the lower end thereof a welt bar 38 comprising welt hooks 40.- The welt hooks are moved rearwardly to the beard side of the needles, and cooperate therewith to engage with and remove the needle wale kinks from alternate needles, thus forming an alternate needle set-up. After the knitting of a sufficient amount of welt fabric has taken place, the welt hooks 40 are again moved rearwardly into engagement with the needles to return the initial course of welt fabric thereto. with the 40 construction herein disclosed, the welt bar 38 and hooks 40 are registered accurately lengthwise of the needle series by means of guiding devices which comprise stop screws 44 supported on extensions 46 of lace rod brackets 33 on the narrowing machine to engage with flat plates 42 formed on opposite sides of the pendants 36.

In accordance with a principal feature of the present invention, a novel mechanism is provided for laying in and supporting the welt wires, and 50 for subsequently releasing the welt wires to engage with and tension the welt fabric away from the needles. A welt wire which may be of ordinary construction, is shown at 50, and is arranged to be acted upon by the usual fabric takeby the tensioning straps 52.

up straps 52 and take-up hooks .54 which are operatively attached to the take-up roller Hi. It is proposed to provide supports into which the welt wires can be laid and attached to their takeup straps 52 during the knitting of the initial courses of welt fabric, to be subsequently moved into active operation to tension the fabric by mechanical operating means which serves'to throw into operation simultaneously the welt wires in each of the several knitting sections of the machine.

Applicant's improved welt wire support and release mechanism comprises the slide supports 56, one being mounted at each end of each sec tion for movement across the plane of the fabric at an angle which slopes downwardly in the direction of'take-up. The supports 56 are mounted to slide in guideways in stationary guide members 58 which serve also as bridges over the table l2 having formed therein guide surfaces 60 to engage with and guide the welt wires 50 substantially in the line of take-up. The slide supports 56 are controlled to move as a unit from a rock shaft 64 by means of lever arms 62 which are secured to the shaft, and are connected through pin and slot connections to the respective slide supports 56. The angular position of the rock shaft 64 may be readily controlled to impart the desired positioning movements to the slide supports 56 through any suitable manual or automatic means as, for example, thedownwardly extending lever' arm 66 and actuating link 68. For supporting the welt wires 50, there is provided on the upper end of each slide support 56, a notched portion or slot 10 having the side walls thereof extending downwardly and forwardly in a direction'substantially parallel to that of the line of movement, so that the welt wires 50 will be held securely against the bottoms of their slots The rear wall of each of the slots 10 is made substantially higher than the front wall, tb-enable the operator more conveniently to place-the welt wires 50 in position in the slots 10.

The operationof applicants improved mechanism for supporting and releasing the welt wires during the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric may be briefly described as follows:

Assuming that the knitting of a new set has commenced'on the'niachine, and that the slide supporfs'56 have been moved upwardly to the position illustrated in' Fig. 1 by a rearward move' ment of actuating link 68, the welt wires 56 may now be laid in and operatively attached to their take-up straps 52 and hooks 54, which are placed under tension, the parts -then being substantially in the position shown in Fig. 1. During the subsequent operation of the machine, after a sumcient amount of welt fabric has been knitted so that the welt wires when moved downwardly will clear the welt hooks 40, the welt supporting mechanism is now tripped to disengage the welt wires 50 from their supports and to permit the take-up tension straps 52 and roller l6 to act thereon to take up the fabric, In order to release the welt wires, the control link 66 is moved forwardly to rock the shaft 64 and to lower the slide supports 56 as shown in Fig. 2.v The downward movement of the slide support causes thewelt wires 50 to beengaged against the welt fabric, and during con-' tinued downward movement of the supports 56 to be released from their slots III to engage against and take up the welt fabric. In this manner the slide supports 56 are fully withdrawn below the level of the fabric knitting to a position in which they will not interfere with the subsequent operation of the machine. The welt wires 50 as shown in this figure, will be moved under the influence of the take-up straps 52 along the guideways 60 beneath and beyond the welt hooks 40 as additional fabric is knitted, to. maintain a constant take-up, tension on the goods.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown, and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Take-up mechanism for flat knitting machines which comprises, with a welt wire, a fabric take-up including take-up straps ,connected to exert a take-up tensioning strain on the welt wire, welt wire supports, constructed and ar ranged to support the welt wire against said takeup tension, and means for moving said supports with the welt wire thereonto move the welt wire against the fabric and to disengage the welt wire from said supports.

2. Take-up mechanism for flat knitting machines which comprises, with a welt wire, a fabric take-up including take-up straps connected to exert a take-up pull on the welt wire, welt wire supports constructed and arranged to support the welt wire and take-up straps attached thereto above the fabric, and means for moving said supports with the welt wire-thereon to move the welt wire against the fabric and to release the welt wire from said supports.

3. Take-up mechanism for fiat knitting machines which comprises, with a welt wire, a fabric take-up including take-up straps connected to exert a take-up tensioning strain on the welt wire, welt wire supports having formed therein recesses for supporting the welt wire against said take-up tension, and-means for moving 'said supports with the welt wire thereon to move the welt wire against the fabric, and thereby to disengage the welt wirefrom said recesses.

- 4..Take-up mechanism for flat knitting machines which comprises, with a welt wire, a fabric take-up including take-up straps connected to exert a take-up tensioning strain on the welt wire, and a welt wire supporting and releasing mechanism comprising welt wire supports at each side of the fabric and supported for movement in a direction intersecting the fabric plane, said supports having formed therein recesses for supporting the welt wire against take-up tension, and

means for moving the supports with the welt wire thereon to move the welt wire against the fabric and thereby to disengage the welt wire from the supporting recess.

'5. Take-up mechanism for flat knitting machines which comprises, with a welt wire, a fabric take-up including take-up straps connected to exert a take-up tensioning strain on the welt wire, a bridge for guiding the welt .wire in the line of take-up, and a welt wire supporting and release mechanism comprising slide members supported adjacent each selvage of the fabric and movable in a planesteeply inclined downwardly away from the needles, said sup recesses for supporting the welt wire against the take-up tension, a rock shaft and connections therefrom for moving said supports between a high support position to a low release position beneath the level of the knitted fabric.

- KARL RICHARD LIEBERKNECHT.

pofts having formed therein 

